Car running on whisky makes its first ever test drive

The car ran on a fuel known as biobutanol which is made from whisky residue

A whisky-fuelled car has successfully completed a world’s first test drive in Scotland.

The car was run on a biofuel made from whisky residue and known as biobutanol. The fuel has been designed as a replacement for petrol and diesel, plus the vehicle doesn’t need to have the engine modified to run such fuel.

The whisky based fuel is made from barley kernels known as ‘draff’ and pot ale, which is a yeasty liquid left after the fermentation process.

According to a reporter from BBC Scotland who sat in on the first ever whisky-fuelled car journey, the ride felt smooth and no different to a journey in which the car was running on petrol or diesel.

Whilst major car manufacturers are going down the electric vehicle route, inventors of biobutanol believe this could be an alternative, powering a vehicle without having to modify the engine.

Celtic Renewables Ltd from Edinburgh Napier University are the spinout company behind the creation, who worked alongside Tullibardine Distillery in Perthshire on the enterprise.

Nearly 750,000 tonnes of draff and two billion litres of pot ale are made by malt whisky businesses in Scotland each year.

Professor Martin Tangney, founder and president of Celtic Renewables Ltd, said the residue has no value at all for the whisky industry.

“What we developed was a process to combine the liquid with the solid, and used an entirely different traditional fermentation process called ABE, and it makes the chemical called biobutanol,” said Mr Tangney.

He also said it was a direct replacement right now for petrol and this was the first time a car has ever successfully driven with a biofuel made from whisky residue.

The successful test drive was rightfully carried out in Scotland, famous the world over for its whisky production as well as being an authority on renewable energy.

Celtic Renewables, who are based in Edinburgh, received a £9million grant from the Government to build a commercial demonstrator plant in Grangemouth, near Falkirk. The plant should be fully operational by the year 2019.

The company are certain their whisky biofuel has huge global potential and could establish an industry worth £100million in Scotland. Other countries who produce whisky such as India, Japan and the US, will also be targeted by the company.

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